11
Mar
2010
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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
My soon-to-be in-laws winter down in Florida, so when we arrived on Sunday they told us they’d like to take us on a winery tour of-sorts. On Tuesday morning we set out to discover one winery in the area. We had a choice of three (the winery map of Florida I had said there were 16 scattered throughout the state): Homosassa Springs, Clermont or Tampa … my first choice was closed on Tuesdays so we traveled to the one in Clermont: Lakeridge Winery & Vineyards – billed as being Florida’s biggest.
My in-laws aren’t oenophiles, nor do they visit wineries all that often (if ever), so they wanted to poke around and taste some of the local wines. The gentleman who greeted us at the door (Gino) was pushy about going on a tour (we must have declined 3 or 4 times). I finally stumbled upon a woman (I did not catch her name) who offered to give us a little tasting and provide me with some information about Lakeridge and the grape growing in Florida.
First off, Lakeridge’s production is based on the Muscadine grape ... (to read more and see some pictures, click here )
To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.
07
Mar
2010
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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
I have heard of Kentucky bluegrass, Kentucky Woman, Kentucky Fried Chicken, the Kentucky Derby and even Kentucky bourbon, but Kentucky wine? Now that was a total mystery to me. Which is why on our way down to Florida I got my one and only chance to try the stuff at Talon Winery in Lexington.
Located approximately 11 miles off of I-75 on a sprawling ranch, of which 5-acres of vines are planted to 7 grape varieties: Traminette, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Cayuga White, Vidal, Catawba and Chambourcin; I was shocked to learn from Lori Baumgardner, daughter of the owner, that a weed of a grape like Chardonnay “is hard to grow in Kentucky”. I also learned that if the bottle says “Kentucky Wine” – an odd turn of phrase for any wine lover as something not heard very often – that the grapes were sourced from Kentucky (at least 75% of them anyway), while “American Wine” on the label meant it was fruit sourced from outside the state.
The winery’s name comes from ... (learn more about what we learned here)
To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.
